My feature on Avalanche first-round pick Mikko Rantanen is online here and in the Tuesday paper.

I also spoke with Colorado’s two second-round picks — left wing A.J. Greer and defenseman Nicolas Meloche — at the team’s Monday availability at the Pepsi Center.

Greer and Meloche both are from Quebec, speak French as their first language but also can get by — and more — in English. The Avalanche used consecutive choices (Nos. 39 and 40 overall) in the June 26 draft to claim them, and their new friendship will be strengthened at Colorado’s development camp, beginning Tuesday morning at Family Sports Center.

Neither will be with the Avalanche in the 2015-16 season because, barring bizarre scenarios, Greer will play his sophomore season at Boston University and Meloche will be back with Baie-Comeau of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

From left, A.J. Greer and Nicolas Meloche pose after being selected 39th and 40th overall by the Colorado Avalanche during the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center on June 27, 2015, in Sunrise, Fla. (Bruce Bennett, Getty Images)

Greer on Monday made reference to knowing that the Avalanche formerly was the Quebec Nordiques, and mentioned how honored he was to go to the team with “Mr. Roy” and “Mr. Sakic” in crucial roles as coach and general manager.

That was jarring for one reason: The NHL now is drafting players who weren’t born when the Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995.

When: The Avalanche’s next two games are against Forsberg and the Predators, beginning Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.

What’s up: Forsberg, 20, will be the only rookie playing Sunday in the NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio. He leads the Predators, and all NHL rookies, with 40 points. He’s also first among rookies with a plus-24 rating, which is third-best in the league.

Background: From Ostervala, Sweden, Forsberg was selected No. 11 by the Washington Capitals in the 2012 draft, with the pick the Caps acquired from the Avalanche in the Semyon Varlamov trade. In a 2013 trade-deadline move that general manager George McPhee felt would bolster Washington’s playoff run, the Caps sent Forsberg to Nashville for Martin Erat and minor-leaguer Michael Latta. In hindsight, the trade might have cost McPhee his job, and the Predators ridded themselves of a 31-year-old veteran making $4.5 million for one of the world’s top young prospects.

Chambers’ take: Forsberg is not related to Peter Forsberg, the Hall of Famer and former Avalanche star, but they are similar in that both were traded by the NHL team that drafted them, and that team will never hear the end of it. The Flyers traded Peter to the Quebec Nordiques in the Eric Lindros deal. Filip was traded for a guy who is 33 and playing out what likely will be the final year of his last NHL contract.

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Joe Sakic skates for the Quebec Nordiques during a game against Buffalo on March 23, 1995, at Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo. (Rick Stewart, Getty Images)

Good news for long-suffering Avs fans who never have gotten to see a preseason game on television: on Friday, Sept. 26, the Avs’ game against the Montreal Canadiens from Quebec City will be shown on Altitude. This marks the first time in team history that a preseason game will be on TV, home or road.

I’ve been asked a million times why preseason games have never been on TV, and the answer is what you might expect: cost. The team has never felt the expense of televising a preseason game has been worth any potential returns.

The 1995-96 Avs team that is reuniting here, let’s not forget, were plucked out of Quebec – something that still stings badly in the province.

Lately, there has been a groundswell to get the NHL back to Quebec City, with promises of funding for a new arena being made by various civic leaders and businessmen (Patrick Roy could be one of them).

Joe Sakic definitely hopes the NHL returns there some day soon:
“I really do hope they get a team back. You talk about a hockey town – you just don’t get too many bigger one than Quebec City. Hopefully they get a team, hopefully Winnipeg gets a team, because both those places deserve it.”

Claude Lemieux, a native of Buckingham, Quebec said: “I’m hoping they get one back. I would think that would be natural for (Roy) to transition out of junior hockey to that there.”

Roy is playing it coy whether he could have any involvement in bringing the NHL back to Quebec City. He remains the coach and GM and partial owner of the junior team in that city.

By the way, here’s a good license plate of a certain fan around town. Appropriate to put up here, with a certain former player in town. The fan’s name is Lynda Jackson.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.